Custom exempt processing is slaughter and processing done without a federal inspector, for the animal's owner, so the meat can be eaten only by the owner's household, nonpaying guests and employees. The packages are marked "Not for Sale", and none of it can be sold. That's the rule beef share farms build on: the customer buys a share of the live animal before it goes to the processor, so the customer is the owner, and the cuts come back to them, not to the farm. Meat sold by the cut, at a market, to a restaurant or online, has to come from an inspected plant instead. In the example below, a Wyoming ranch sells one steer in a half and two quarters before its slaughter date and keeps a log that shows each buyer owned their share. Below are the rules, how shares work, the example, and a free share log.
The short version
- Custom exempt: no inspector, and the meat is only for the owner's household, nonpaying guests and employees.
- Packages are marked "Not for Sale" and can't be sold or given to paying customers.
- Beef shares work because each buyer owns a share of the live animal before slaughter.
- The farm sells the live animal; the processor charges each owner for cutting and wrapping.
- Meat sold by the cut needs a USDA-inspected or state-inspected plant.
- The processor keeps records of animals, products and owners' names and addresses.
- States add their own rules, so check yours before selling shares.
- TaroStack keeps inspected cuts by lot, with their pack dates and who bought them. More below.
The rules
| Rule | What it says | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Who it's for | Custom slaughter of cattle, sheep, swine or goats delivered by the owner, exclusively for use in the owner's household, by the owner, their household, nonpaying guests and employees | 21 U.S.C. 623(a) |
| Marking | The custom products are plainly marked "Not for Sale" right after they're prepared, and stay marked until delivered to the owner | 9 CFR 303.1 |
| Kept apart | A processor that also handles products for sale keeps them apart from custom products | 9 CFR 303.1 |
| Records | The processor records the number and kinds of animals, the products, and the owners' names and addresses | 9 CFR 303.1 |
The same law exempts a farmer slaughtering animals of their own raising for their own household. Neither exemption lets anyone sell the meat. This is general information, not legal advice.
How beef shares fit
A beef share is a sale of the live animal, or part of it, before slaughter. The buyer pays the farm for their share, often by hanging weight, becomes an owner, and sends the processor a cut sheet. The processor slaughters and cuts the animal under the custom exemption, marks every package "Not for Sale", and the owner picks up and pays for the cutting and wrapping. The farm never sells a package of meat, which is the point. If the farm wants to sell ground beef at a market or steaks to a restaurant, those animals go to an inspected plant and come back with the inspection mark.
An example: one steer, three owners
Bighorn Basin Beef, a made-up ranch in Worland, Wyoming, I use in these examples, sells steer BB-26-07, which hangs at 720 pounds, before its slaughter date:
| Owner | Share | Deposit paid | Hanging lb | Price a hanging lb | Pays the ranch | Pays the processor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R. Alvarez, Worland | Half | Sep 2 | 360 | $4.25 | $1,530 | $446 |
| M. Chen, Thermopolis | Quarter | Sep 5 | 180 | $4.50 | $810 | $223 |
| J. Two Bulls, Worland | Quarter | Sep 8 | 180 | $4.50 | $810 | $223 |
| The steer | 100% | 720 | $3,150 | $892 |
Every share was sold, and its deposit paid, weeks before the processor's date, so the three buyers owned the steer when it arrived. Each sent a cut sheet; the processor recorded their names and addresses, marked every package "Not for Sale", and each owner picked up and paid for cutting and wrapping in mid-October. The ranch's $3,150 for the steer is against about $2,360 to raise it. How the price per hanging pound is worked out is in how to price beef by hanging weight.
When it has to be inspected
| Selling | Route |
|---|---|
| A share of a live animal, before slaughter | Custom exempt, meat for the owner's household |
| Steaks at a farmers market | Inspected plant |
| Ground beef to a restaurant | Inspected plant |
| Cuts shipped to online customers | Inspected plant |
| Jerky or sausages to stores | Inspected plant, and the processing rules for those products |
A farm that sells its own beef by the cut uses an inspected plant for those animals, and keeps each plant run's cuts traceable; how lots carry through is in what is lot tracking.
Get the share log
Download the custom exempt share log. Two sheets: inspected or custom, the two routes side by side; and a share log, one line for each owner of each animal with the share, deposit date, hanging weight, price and processor's fee, where each owner's hanging pounds and what they pay fill in, with each animal's shares and total. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
A share log handles a dozen steers a year. A ranch that also sends animals to an inspected plant and sells cuts at a market, to restaurants and online has a freezer full of packages from different animals and pack dates, and the inspected cuts have to be kept apart from anything marked "Not for Sale" and traced to every buyer.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps inspected cuts by lot, with their pack dates and who bought them.
Cuts by lot. Cuts back from the inspected plant are received as a lot with their pack date, so the ribeyes in the freezer are tied to the animal and the plant run they came from, and the oldest goes first; how that works is in FEFO vs FIFO.
Kept apart. A lot can be put on hold, kept out of what can be sold until it's cleared.
Who bought what. Each order records the lots each customer got as it ships, so one recall report shows which restaurants and market customers got a lot, and what's still in your freezer. A share buyer can be a customer with an order for their share, priced by hanging weight.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Which animal the ribeyes came from | The plant's paperwork | The cuts' lot |
| Oldest cuts first | Dig through the freezer | First-expired-first-out by date |
| Which restaurants got a lot | Search the invoices | One recall report |
| Share buyers and their deposits | A notebook | Customers and orders |
Lots, holds, sales orders and recalls are on every plan, from $49 a month. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.